Hood hinge



Jan. 5, 1937. -c, p. ALBERT 2,066,444

HOOD HINGE Filed April 15, 1956 IIIIIIIIflIIIIII table in several respects.

Patented Jan. 5, 1937 UNITED STATES.

noon HINGE Carl P. Albert, Racine, Wis, assignor to Greene Manufacturing Company, Racine; Wis a cor- I poration of- Wisconsin Application April 15, 1936, Serial No. 74,503

3 Claims. (01. 16-178) This inventionrelates to hood hinges for automobiles.

As is well known, the hoods of automobiles as now generally constructed comprise two separate sections, each independently hinged toa central supporting member extending longitudinally and centrally along the topof the hood. With a view toward improving the appearance of the automobile, this central supporting member has been so combined with the hinge structurethat the top thereof forms an unbroken surface of ornamental shape and configuration. This central supporting member has always polished.

This past practice has been found; objection- Making the supporting member ofa' solid single thickness piece of sheet metal of sufiicient weight to meet the requirements precludes the formation ofsharp bends and sharply defined edges, which is often-desirable from the standpoint of appearance, espepast construction resulted in a raw edge whichduring part of the hinge action was engaged by a relatively movable part of the hinge and as a consequence, the desired smoothness of operation wasnot obtained, and inasmuch as the plating would wear Qfif, this .part ofthe structure was subject to rust corrosion.

With these and other objections to past hood hinges in mind, the present invention contemplates as one of its objects a hood hinge of the general character described wherein the central supporting member or hinge strip is of laminated construction.

More specifically it is an object of this invention to provide a hood hinge having a central stationary hinge strip of laminated construction and in which the outer lamina is formed of thin stainless steel or other suitable noncorrosive metal capable of taking a high polish to obviate the necessity for plating.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hood hinge of the character described wherein the usual raw edge upon which the hood carried part of the hinge structure rides during opening and closing of the hood is covered by a sheath of noncorrosive metal to insure permanently smooth action and guard against the possibility of rust corrosion.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a hood hinge of the, character described which lends itself more readily to the use ofdesigns having sharply defined edges.

A further object of. this invention is to pro vide a hood hinge of the characterdescribed which is neater in appearance and has the statedadvantages over past constructions without in.

anywise increasing the cost thereof. 1

With the above and other objects in view-which will appear as the description proceeds, this in-; vention resides in the novel constructiom-combination and arrangementof parts substantially as hereinafter described and. more particularlydefined by the appended claims, it being; under-. stood that such changes in the-precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed inventionmay be;

made as come within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one complete example of the physical; embodiment of the invention constructed according to :the best of the principles thereof, and in which: Figure l is a perspective cross section-view through a hood hinge embodying this invention;

and r Figure 2 is a cross section view through-a por tion. of the hinge showing the parts in; an open-v position.

Referring now particularly tothe accompanying drawing in which like numerals indicate like parts, the numerals and 6 desi nate hood sections. of the, automobil whi @11 1 hir e dly 1 supported at their contiguous edgesbya central;

l n itudinal supportin memberzlg. In use; the;

supporting member I has one end attached to the radiator and its other end to the cowl of the vehicle (not shown). is thus a rigid stationary structure and its opposite longitudinal marginal edges are inwardly and upwardly curled to provide stationary hinge parts 8.

Pivotally interengaged with the stationary hinge parts are movable hinge parts 9. These movable hinge parts are provided by the curled edges of longitudinal strips ID, the lower portions of which provide flanges to which other flanges l I carried by the hood sections 5 and 6 are permanently secured. The strips It) thus form rigid parts of the hood sections and support the central upper portions of the hood sections from the supporting member I, as shown.

The shape of the pivotally interengaging hinge parts 8 and 9 is such that the hood sections may be swung through an arc suflicient to: permit opening and closing thereof without disengaging The supporting member I i mode so far devised for the practicalapplication,

.solid thickness precluded the use of'designs in:-

volving sharp edges and besides entailing "the expense of plating was found objectionable in that the edges I 2 of its upstanding flanges l3 were raw edges from which the plating was soon worn off. After the plating was worn off, the uncoveredraw metal was subject to rust corrosion which besides interfering with the smooth action of the hinge was apt to mar thefinish of the hood. 7 g

To overcomev these disadvantages, the present invention contemplates a' laminated construction for the supporting member? wherein the outer surface is provided by a thin shell I4 of stainless 'steel-or other suitable noncorrosive metal.

This thin shell covers the entireouter surface of the member land has its marginal edge portions folded and crimped over the flanges l3, as at I5,

Consequently, that part of the stationary hinge structure which is subject to the greatest wear, namely, the edges of its flanges I3, is completely covered by the noncorrosive metal shell or' sheath so that the objections of araw edge at this point r are entirely overcome.

Also, through the use of a laminated construction, designs incorporating sharply definededges can be utilized without sacrifice in strength.

It is also apparent that through the use of a thin shell of stainless steel, the expense of plating is entirely obviated for it is only necessary to bufi the surface of the shell to provide the desired luster. I

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, that this invention provides asubstantial improvement over past hood hinge constructions Without in anywise increasing the cost thereof. a

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a hood hinge for automotive vehicles, a stationary hinge part, a movable hinge part having a. pivotal interengagement therewith and adapted to support a movable hood section, said hinge parts having their interengaging portions so shaped that the. movable hinge part slides over an edge of the stationary hinge part, and a shell of noncorrosive metal covering the exposed parts of the stationary hinge part and said edge so as supporting member, movable hinge parts having a. pivotal interengagement with and substantially disposed within the stationary hinge parts, said movable hinge parts being attached to the hood sections so as to support the same, and a thin shell of noncorrosivemetal covering the outer exposed surfaces of the supporting member and extending over the longitudinal marginal, edges thereof so as to provide a neat external appearance for the supporting member and a noncorrosive supporting edge on which the movable hinge section slides during the hinge action.

3. In a hood hinge of the character described, a stationary supporting member from which two adjacent hood sections are hingedly supported, said supporting member having its side marginal edges bent down and curled inwardly and 11p.- wardly to provide stationary hinge parts, two longitudinal strips each attached to one of the two adjacent hood sections with their upper portions projecting above the hood sections, outwardly curled portions on the upper edges of said strips forming movable-hinge parts received in the sta tionary hinge parts in such a manner that all por tions of said strips are covered by the stationary supporting member when the hood sections are in tends laterally beyond the contiguous edges of the hood sections, and said supporting member closed positions and said supporting member exbeing of laminated construction with the outer exposed layer thereof formed of thin noncorroslve metal held in'place by having its marginal edges folded over the marginal edges of the remainder of the supporting membe'ig-said outer layer of noncorrosive metal-being capable of being buffed to a high luster without the necessity of plating and the combined-thickness of the outer layer and l the remainder of the supporting member being suflicient to carry the weight while at the same time permitting the formation of bends with sharp angles therein for the sake of providing a sharply defined design.

CARL P. ALBERT. 

